The 2017 Skoda Superb Sportline is now officially on sale, and the brand has added the comprehensive styling pack – including interior and exterior features – for just $1000 over the regular Superb 206TSI upon which it’s based.

The Skoda Superb Sportline version, then, is priced at $51,990 plus on-road costs (or $55,290 drive-away) for the sedan version while the Sportline wagon continues to attract a $1700 premium, placing it at $53,690 plus on-roads (or $56,990 drive-away).

It brings with it 17 styling changes, with the interior gaining a Sportline dash cluster, sports seats, a three-spoke flat-bottom steering wheel in perforated silver-stitched leather, decorative dashboard trim, door sill strips, black head-liner, and the VW-sourced Performance Monitor that can show lap times and other information on the standard 8.0-inch touchscreen.

On the outside there are Sportline badges on the front fenders, black door mirror casings, a black rear diffuser and chrome exhaust tips, a black rear spoiler for the sedan (wagon retains body-colour spoiler), black roof-rails for the wagon, a black radiator grille frame, black side strips on the doors, black surrounds for the cornering lights, and 19-inch alloy wheels.

Seems like a lot of stuff for $1000, right? Well, according to Michael Irmer, director of Skoda Australia, the price of the Sportline model shocked the dealer network.

“We had some dealers that had enquiries on the Sportline, and they sold some cars not knowing the pricing – they put in a precautionary $5000 in the contract: they knew it might be a little less than that. They were quite surprised when we came out with the actual price,” Irmer said.

Indeed, the company’s general manager of corporate communications, Paul Pottinger, said internally the company had expected the extras to be “triple or quadruple” the $1000 asking price.

Irmer went on to say the brand is considering whether the new model will take the top spot in the range as a permanent fixture – in other words, the standard 206TSI model may be farewelled if Sportline demand is high enough – but he added there might be some buyers who prefer the luxury look.

“The price of the 206TSI is right – we’ve never had any comment that the price is not right. It’s a different character – one is more comfort-oriented, where the other is more sport-oriented, without making it a RS,” Irmer said.

“That’s why we haven’t chosen to put an RS badge on it. There’s not really a change to the characteristics of the exhaust, for instance. An RS still drives more aggressive, too.”

Stay tuned for our review of the 2017 Skoda Superb Sportline soon.

Podcast

Listen to the CarAdvice team discuss the 2017 Skoda Superb Sportline below, and catch more like this at caradvice.com/podcast.